World Kiteboarding League Germany / Day 9

September 4, 2016

Pringles Kitesurf World Cup Day Nine

It was a very early start for the riders and crew on day nine at the WKL Germany, with the skipper’s meeting taking place at 6.30 am. Although the forecast had been promising, the wind was disappointing, and remained just a few knots lighter than necessary.

Finally at around midday the wind increased to around 14 knots, and we were able to get underway with the Men’s main event, Round 1 Heat 2.

Most riders were on 14 metre kites, and although the conditions were challenging, most managed to pull out some solid, powered tricks, but it was Liam Whaley who dominated his heat, and landed a nice Backside 317 that scored him 8.23 points. Liam managed to remain at the top throughout his heat, guaranteeing his spot in the next round.

Our previous event winner Luis Alberto Cruz unfortunately failed to connect with the conditions during his heat, leading to him being eliminated from the event. The second upset of the heat was also former event winner from Germany last year, Aaron Hadlow from the UK, who failed to find the wind he needed during his heat and suffered a surprise exit.

Posito Martinez from the Dominican Republic rode a solid heat, landing the highest scoring trick, a Hinterberger Mobe 7, scoring 8.3 and also putting him through to the next round, but it was Alex Pastor from Spain who lived up to his reputation, throwing an amazing KGB 5 in the last moment, which gave him the advantage over his opponents and placed him in third position for the heat, gaining the last, much desired spot in the next round.

Heat number 3 saw Belgian rider Jerome Cloetens narrowly miss out on his place in the next round, as he struggled to land enough high scoring tricks. The Austrian Mike Schitzhofer rode a good, steady heat, and took one spot in the next round. Joining him will be fellow Austrian, Stefan Spiessberger, and the Spanish rider David Tonijuan who coped extremely well with the challenging conditions and also passed through to the next round.

Heat number 4 was unfortunately cancelled due to the dropping wind conditions. The riders all fought hard to land their tricks, but after three trick attempts per rider, the heat was called off. The suitable wind conditions unfortunately did not return for the remainder of the day.

The event site in Fehmarn was full throughout the afternoon with members of the public who were excited to be here and participate in the largest kiteboarding event of the year. Many riders took part in poster signing for their brands.

For the live stream, we saw interviews with all of the female finalists who will hopefully compete tomorrow. You can still view these over on our Facebook page.

The conditions once again look promising for tomorrow, with the skippers meeting called for 6.30 am and the first possible start at 7am.

We look forward to you all joining us tomorrow on our live stream to follow all of the action.